'Sleeves Bandit' to get 25 years to life in prison
Robbing the Tri Counties Bank in Marysville was the third strike for the "Sleeves Bandit," Michael Koselka, who will be sentenced June 7 to 25 years to life in prison under the state's Three Strikes Law, according to Yuba County District Attorney Pat McGrath.
Koselka, 55, pleaded guilty Friday in Yuba County Superior Court to robbing the bank at 729 E St. just before closing time on April 3, 2009, McGrath said.
Koselka, a former law student who served a federal prison term after a series of California bank robberies in the 1990s, still faces bank robbery charges in six other counties, said McGrath.
Koselka, who was on the FBI's most wanted list, was called the Sleeves Bandit because he wore fake tattoo patches on his arms.
After robbing the Tri Counties Bank at 4:54 p.m., Koselka, driving a Saab 9-5, led Marysville police on a short pursuit that ended near Rideout Memorial Hospital, leaving one patrol car totaled and two others seriously damaged. He was arrested on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and felony evasion of police.
After the arrest, police connected him to 16 bank robberies between Monterey and Los Angeles since the previous November.
Koselka, of Aptos, attended Santa Clara University, then studied for three years at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Police said a cocaine addiction led him to begin robbing banks in the 1990s to support his habit.
He was arrested in October 1995 and charged with a month-long bank robbery spree in the Bay Area, then sentenced to 10 years in prison.
CONTACT Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com
